At its Nov. 16 regular meeting, the Marcellus Board of Education voted to amend the 2015-16 school calendar to include additional professional development opportunities for our faculty. These changes have resulted in NO SCHOOL days for students that are not reflected in the printed district calendar families received over the summer.

Superintendent of Schools Judith Pastel detailed these changes in a Nov. 17 letter to parents, which will be distributed by the individual school buildings this week. The letter is also available online.

The changes are as follows:

There will be no school for all students (grades K-12) on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016. Teachers will spend the day on campus building on the work they began during September and November staff development days.

There will be no school for students in grades 7-12 on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016. The BOE agreed to add seventh- and eighth-grade teachers to the day previously set aside for only grades 9-12. This change will enable teachers who work in separate buildings to collaborate across grade levels on important lessons, and also allow the district to save money by eliminating secondary bus runs that day.

The superintendent requested these calendar amendments based on the pressing need she has observed in Marcellus to give faculty members additional time to meet, collaborate and grow together.

"I’m grateful for the board’s support and hopeful these changes are coming early enough to avoid any undue inconvenience for our families," Dr. Pastel said.